Define Freedom
by xTheDoctorsCompanion
Summary: A year after Bane had nearly destroyed Gotham, Barbara Gordon and John Blake are faced with the biggest mass breakout of Arkham Asylum in over 10 years. Sequel to Define Justice.
1. Introduction

**Define Freedom**

**Introduction**

The apartment was pristine. Barbara Gordon smiled in triumph as she finally put down the swiffer she felt like she was holding for hours. Not a speck of dust was sitting on any counter top or book case. The windows sparkled in the early evening moonlight, and the dishes were put away perfectly. All she had to do was wait for her husband to come home after a long day at work. However, right at that moment a shower sounded about good.

The cool water felt amazing on her sweaty skin, and was perfect for the late July weather, which was in its third week of draught. Barbara rubbed medical oil over her arms, where the worst of her battle scars were beginning to fade from its use.

Jumping out of the shower, Barbara began singing softly to herself, trying to break the silence of the empty apartment. As she put on her pajamas, a knock at the front door breaks her out of her song. Putting on her slippers, she glides quickly to the door, thinking it may just be John with his arms full, yet again.

Opening the door, she gasped, staring at the barrel of a gun.

"Hello darling." The familiar voice said, laughing manically, pulling the trigger and hitting Barbara in the stomach, "Long time, no see."

**6 Months Earlier**

Barbara Gordon and John Blake sat on the beaches of Costa Rica, soaking up the warm sun. It was the third day of their honeymoon, and they were spending the next few days just laying around and enjoying themselves. The sound of the radio in between the two newlyweds interrupted them from their individual thoughts,

"We are live in Gotham City, where moments ago a breakout from Arkham Asylum has police and citizens alike on their toes once again. After a year of getting back on it's feet, it is a similar belief that Gotham may fall back down once again, especially without adequate security personnel and non-corrupt medical staff…"

John and Barbara groaned in disappointment, knowing that once again their home was in danger. The two of them stared at each other for a while before they began to pack up their beach backs and gather up their things to bring back to the hotel room.

"Do we really have to go?" Barbara asked, sighing. She watched as John nodded, not saying a thing, and rolled up their beach towels and grabbed their garbage, "I'm sure that nothing big will happen between now and when we get back in three days."

"You never know, Barb. But I'm sure the commissioner will need me, and I'm in no position to turn it down right now. Especially with the Major Crimes Unit slowly deteriorating because of past corruption."

Barbara nodded and helped John carry their things back to their room, and quickly began packing the suitcases while John called the airport to get their tickets changed to the current date. As much as Barbara loved John being a police officer, it was mildly inconvenient at the best of times. But she never would have thought that the job would have abruptly ended their honeymoon.


	2. Winter Winds

_As the winter winds litter London with lonely hearts_

_Oh the warmth in your eyes swept me into your arms_

_Was it love or fear of the cold that led us through the night?_

_For every kiss your beauty trumped my doubt_

_**Winter Winds- Mumford and Sons**_

**Chapter 1**

**Winter Winds**

Bette Kane had hardly survived the hellish winter the year before.

When Bane had seized control of Gotham, her parents had been visiting her grandparents in Boston and she had been staying with a friend and her mother at their apartment just a few short blocks from downtown Gotham. Jill, the friend she was staying with, had gotten them tickets to see the Gotham Rogues play, but since the two never really watched football they just spent their time flirting with boys. Bette's life changed when she watched Bane kill that doctor, or whoever he was, in front of the thousands of spectators. It was then she had decided that she wanted to do something grand with her life. That she wanted to save Gotham.

Jill had wanted to help originally. The three had remained in the apartment for most of the first month, with Jill's mother going out once every other week to get food. The two teenagers would spend hours planning fights and disguises, hero names and alias's. It was one of the only things they had to look forward to in the future.

After a month food began to disappear. Trucks were brought in once every so often with food that people could get with food stamps and savings. Since no one was working, not a lot of people had the ability to go out and buy food. That was when people started to kill for their sustenance.

Jill's mom was shot on her way home on Halloween night.

Bette could tell that her best friend was emotionally distraught, but she did not show it. If anything, she was more set on doing what the two girls had been planning for two months. Jill was angrier in her planning, describing how she wanted to kill the men that they would face. Bette tried to explain that Batman would not have done that, and that they should take pointers from Batgirl, who they had seen save a girl and her mother's life outside the apartment. Jill didn't like this idea.

After a while, Bette began to abandon their vigilante plans, but Jill didn't. After a very aggressive fight, Jill had gone out to seek the revenge she deserved towards the men who were at fault for her mother's death.

Jill didn't return that night, or the next. The next time Bette had seen her, her body was hanging over the Gotham Bridge.

That was when Bette began to feel more and more alone. She had abandoned her friend's apartment and had gone back to her own family's apartment, where most of their stuff had remained relatively untouched. Although there was not much left to eat, Bette managed to live out her days in solitude, trying to imagine that the gunshots she heard were really fireworks, and that they were soon going to be saved.

On the day that everything ended, Bette had gathered with the escaped police officers. She had no intention of fighting, but rather was hoping that Batgirl would show up so that she could watch. What Bette had not counted on was that Batgirl had not come alone, but that she had a sidekick. Bette didn't know her name, only that she took guard up on the roof, and that it looked like she had good training.

Bette hid behind a large garbage can for most of the battle. She hardly saw much, but she did see when the black haired sidekick fell to her death. She also saw Batgirl's face before she took the mask off of her friend. She realized that she had seen Batgirl before. They used to go to school together.

Barbara Gordon was everything that Bette wanted to be. She had one of the highest averages at her old school, ran cross country and track, and had her choice of the best universities. To say that it surprised the blonde teen that an 18 year old was Batgirl was an understatement, but the thought of it also gave her hope. That maybe she could achieve greatness as well.

After Batman had sacrificed his life to detonate the atomic bomb, Bette began to see the world in a new light. That there were two kinds of people in the world: those who wanted change, and those who seek change. Bette Kane wished to seek change, and that is what she would do.

* * *

Barbara Gordon woke up the on morning of December 27th with the spot next to her in bed empty. She sat up, rubbing her eyes so they would get used to the light that was sneaking through the curtains. She desperately wished that she and John were still lying on the beaches of Costa Rica, enjoying their free drinks and the warm sun. Instead, however, she was stuck with the snow, bitter air and cold sun that plagued Gotham in the winter. She called out for John, receiving no answer but the silence of the apartment. She put on her slippers and made her way out to the kitchen, dragging her feet on the ground and pushing red hair out of her face.

In the kitchen table a note sat on the table, addressed neatly to Barbara. She picked it up, knowing it to be from her husband. His handwriting stuck out like a sore thumb.

_Barbara, _

_I was called into work a few hours ago after I let Akins know that we were back from our Christmas honeymoon. He needs me with you father to help track down several of the escaped convicts. There is reason to believe that the Joker is with this group, and everyone at the GPD knows that we are going to need all hands on deck for a while. Please don't go out and do Batgirl stuff. For once we need to lay low and let the law enforcement do its work. It's much too dangerous for you to be chasing after criminal masterminds._

_Stay safe,_

_John_

Barbara sighed in annoyance, wishing that John would trust that she would not do anything radical. Since they had discovered Bruce Wayne's batcave the previous summer, John was fearful that Barbara would begin a life of vigilantism, and that it would eventually get her killed. He always told her that the criminals of Gotham were much worse than criminals elsewhere, and that she shouldn't be basing her choices on a few months of underground revolting and what she has seen on TV about Superman in Metropolis.

Barbara could not find a single thing to do but watch the news and see what was happening within Gotham and any developments on the escaped criminals. However, there was next to nothing that they didn't already know. News stations had the same information that they had the night before. So with a sigh of annoyance, Barbara changed into a suitable winter outfit, grabbed her school bag, jacket and boots, and decided to make her way towards the library, where she knew there was always something to do.

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry that took so long. I kinda hit a snag in the story and couldn't think of anything else to write. So I gave the story a bit of a revamp and I deleted the first chapter, so this will be the new chapter one. Please let me know what you think, and thank you for all in advance for your views/favorites/follows/reviews.**


	3. Red Right Hand

_You'll see him in your nightmares,_

_You'll see him in your dreams_

_He'll appear out of nowhere but_

_He ain't what he seems_

_**Red Right Hand – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds**_

**Chapter 2**

**Red Right Hand**

Barbara arrived at the library after an hour long bus ride through the busy center of Gotham City, which always seemed to without flaw make her late for everything she needed to do. Days like today made her wonder why she even took the bus to begin with, but she would rather be warm in a bus for an hour instead of being cold walking for a half an hour.

The Gotham City Public Library was where Barbara worked part time during school months to help her pay off student loans. The librarian, Ms. Taylor, was a nice woman who usually let Barbara come in during school breaks to make extra money, or study in one of the empty rooms. She loved her job, and was so glad that she had been able to come by it the previous year when she had been scheduled to start her first year of university. Ms. Taylor had requested a student to help her tag books, and when Barbara had been one of the only ones to answer the ad, the two had hit it off quite well.

As Barbara entered the building, she was greeted with the smell of books, and the warm beverages that Ms. Taylor made every day for the people who came in from the cold. The older woman was sitting behind the desk, stamping new books with their serial number.

"Good morning, Ms. Taylor." Barbara called from the front door, walking over quickly with a smile on her face. The woman looked up from her desk and grinned at the younger woman.

"How many times have I told you to call me Fran, darling?" She asked Barbara, who made her way behind the checkout, and took off her winter clothes, "we've known each other long enough."

"I know. I just forget all the time." Barbara laughed, pulling out her text books, "you don't mind if I occupy a private room, do you? One of the ones with a computer?"

"Of course, dear. How long do you think you'll be?"

"Probably until lunch. I have quite a bit of work to do, and the apartment is not the best place to get it done." Barbara joked, knowing that Fran Taylor always joked that she could never get any work done in a place with such an open wireless network. Barbara made her way to the back of the library, where the study rooms were located.

Most of the rooms were rented out by students who had the money to do so, but they were always empty during Christmas vacation. Barbara liked these rooms because they blocked most social networking sites, so it gave her the actual opportunity to study without distraction, or do research that she needs to.

Today's research was far from school related, however.

* * *

John had originally planned on retiring from the Gotham Police Department after what had happened the previous year. He had even gone as far as passing in his letter of resignation, but he couldn't last long without the job, for he had gone back a few days later to retract it. It wasn't that he hated the job. It was the exact opposite: he loved the job, but felt that he needed to be there more often for Barbara and that he shouldn't put himself in danger. But he felt empty without the job, so he went back and told the new commissioner Michael Akins that he had changed his mind before he could even tell his fiancé that he was quitting.

Since Batman's death, John had been assigned to work with the Major Crimes Unit under James Gordon, Barbara's father. The two spent most of their time recapturing many of the escaped convicts of Blackgate Prison, and now investigating and apprehending the escapees of Arkham Asylum. It was hard work, and often times he would come home and crash out on the couch while Barbara was working hard at getting her English major. Some days he felt like he could be a better husband, and there were some where he felt that Barbara deserved someone so much better than him. But at the end of the day, the two of them were very much in love.

That's why when John got home that afternoon he was worried when Barbara was not home.

The first thought that flew into his head was that she had gone out, trying to be the hero once again. Even though the two of them had found Bruce Wayne's bat cave a few months earlier, the two had decided to take it slow in becoming mainstream vigilantes. They would wait until the perfect opportunity. But to John, the escape of Gotham's most dangerous psychopaths was far from the perfect opportunity. When he found the letter she left on the kitchen island, he breathed a breath he did not realize he was holding in.

_Dearest John,_

_I went to the library to get a bit of studying done. I was beginning to get restless in the apartment. Call me if you need anything,_

_Love, Barbara._

John smiled at the way Barbara always signed her name at the bottom of her letters. He loved how the letters looped together so perfectly. He wondered sometimes how he managed to live as long as he did without knowing Barbara.

* * *

Bette sat in the park behind her apartment building, bundled up in a thick winter jacket, legs pulled up to her chest, notebook propped on her knees. She was working hard on writing a short story for her intensive English class, but couldn't think of anything creative to put down on paper. Instead she watched as people quickly bustled by, going about their day to day activities. She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the person snake into the seat next to her, and smile.

"What's on your mind?" He said, making Bette jump slightly. She turned her head quickly to see the man, easily in his mid-thirties, smiling as if he's never had anything to be sad about.

"Absolutely nothing. I love just watching people walk by. Sometimes I like to make up a whole life about them. I have a whole binder upstairs of these life stories I've created by people I see walking past my window." Bette replied, smiling at the stranger.

"That's really interesting. I never really thought of doing something like that before."

Bette shrugged, "my English teacher always says you can't judge someone without knowing who they are, and I like to just pretend that I know who they are. So when someone who looks interesting or different walks by, I just see if I can create a past for them."

"I guess your English teacher is right. You never truly know someone until you walk around in their shoes." The man said, leaning back.

"Look, I should probably go. I have a bunch of stuff to do before my parents get home from work." Bette said, standing up, "it was nice talking to you, sir. Have a nice day."

The blonde girl strode off towards the building, never looking behind once. The man sat there, a smile still on his face, watching as she quickly ran off, "It was wonderful talking to you, Bette."

**A/N: Wowzers, sorry that took so long to update, and with so little to show for it. I just moved out last week, and I started University as well, so I don't have a lot of time on my hands. But, just like the first story, I will finish this, I promise. I'll even be working on a soundtrack as soon as possible. Please let me know what you think, and what I can improve on. Thank you all so much,**

**xTDC**


End file.
